The Nexus 6 had a long run for a phone originally released in 2014, but last October seemed to mark the end of software updates. For a phone that stopped seeing major Android upgrades in 2016, Google kept security updates rolling until 2017—even if they sometimes came with some unfortunate and obnoxious baggage. Now here we are in 2018, and somewhat randomly a new update seems to be rolling out for the Nexus 6.

The new build is N8I11F, and so far as we can tell, the only difference seems to be a change in baseband. It's still Android Nougat 7.1.1, it's still on the October 2017 security patch, and the kernel version appears to be the same.

After much anticipation, LineageOS 15.1 (based on Android 8.1) was announced last month. Only a handful of devices had official 15.1 builds at the start, but over time, more have been moved up to Oreo. The Nexus Player, OnePlus One, and Oppo Find 7 were recently added to the roster - and now three more devices are coming.

As of April 3rd, 2017 the Nexus 6/Shamu has truly reached end of life status. Although we knew it was coming, it seems it was easier to keep the buildbots running until more major changes were made. We’d like to take this time to sit back and reminisce on our fond, and large, memories of the device. Death, however, is not the end, but a new beginning. Or, at least, an excuse for those of us without upgrade fever to move ourselves over to a nice and shiny new ROM. While Google may have given up on Shamu, some devices just can’t stay down.

If tonight can be compared to Christmas Eve, we've just seen a big, AT&T-shaped box sitting in the living room. As carriers are wont to do, it appears AT&T has already set up a URL for Motorola's Nexus 6, confirming that the carrier will carry the new whale-sized Nexus.

The URL won't take you to a product listing just yet, but if you travel a short way to the LG G3 Vigor listing, you'll see a tile in the sidebar showing the Nexus 6 for $49.99 on contract.

Note: This isn't a guarantee of the price as the page isn't final yet, and in fact it appears everything but the name and the tile itself are place holders - the image is the LG Vista, the same SKU currently holding a place in the "details" URL.

Just a couple of days ago, we posted a quick look at what the next Nexus phone would look like (along with some spec confirmations), based on new information and materials we had seen. That image however, as stated before, was just a reproduction of what we'd seen (redrawn to protect our source and eliminate any possible identifiers). Today, though, we have what looks like a photo of the device.

Of course, we've seen alleged photos of this phone before, but one only showed the back, and one was very poorly lit. This photo, by contrast, is as well lit as we can possibly expect from a leaked photo, and shows the front of the device aligning with everything we've seen/posted so far.

If you've been keeping up with any tech blogs over the past couple of weeks, you know that the next Nexus phone has been a hot topic. We saw rumored specs and rumoredhardware photos that only added to the confusion created back when we first reported on a possible 5.9" Nexus. Today, however, we have something special to share. We've been provided with new information about the next Nexus phone, and can confirm that it will be a 5.9" device called the Nexus 6.

Based on new information we've seen today, I've put together this image that depicts - as faithfully as possible - what the Nexus 6 will look like.

Relative to last year's downpourofNexus 5leaks, there's been a bit of a drought in Nexus phone rumors this season. So far, we know that Motorola is expected to have made a large Nexus device codenamed Shamu, which multiple sources have affirmed and which is supposed to share an impressive spec sheet with another device codenamed Quark. This device is supposed to be set for a November release.

What it looks like (or how it even came to be) are still up in the air, however. Until we know more concrete info (or hear an official announcement), there's no way to reliably nail down the details.

Posted in Droid-life's comments section earlier, this photo seems to depict a very large Motorola device next to an AT&T-branded LG G3. The G3 has a 5.5" display. This unknown Motorola hardware thus has a display substantially larger than 5.5", say somewhere in the 5.9" neighborhood maybe? So yes, this very well could be Shamu, the upcoming Nexus phone that we're pretty sure is going to be a thing in the near-ish future. And yeah, that whole 5.9" thing now sounds even more inevitable.

What we don't know is if this photo is actually of Shamu (I'm not one to trust taped-on sticky notes).

We've been hearing a lot about Volantis lately, but what about the other supposed Nexus device - Shamu? Since we originally broke the story back in July (with the Information affirming Shamu's existence soon after) things have been relatively quiet, with only a benchmark test here or there popping up with alleged specs that seemed to point to a smaller device.

Today, however, 9to5Google has divulged specs and details about the device in which the outlet seems fairly confident. 9to5 says it can corroborate the 5.9" screen size, and notes that "the device we've learned about" actually carries the following specs, some of which clash with earlier reports:

5.92" QHD display (498PPI)

3200mAh battery

13MP camera and 2MP front shooter

Snapdragon 805 processor

3GB RAM

Worth noting is that 9to5's information aligns almost perfectly with information we received earlier this year, but they also sound very close to a device we've seen under the name Quark, which may in fact be the basis for Shamu.

We first reported on Android Silver back in April this year as an attempt by Google to premiumify Android phones with more Google branding and stock software in partnership with OEMs and US carriers. The program was supposed to launch early next year, and according to our source, would even entail custom retail booths in carrier stores, supplied and funded by Google. Google would also provide marketing assistance, customer support, and help carriers with sell-through, providing employees training on selling and teaching customers how to use Silver devices. There would be a handful of Silver devices on the market at any given time, and for the initial launch, the initiative would be limited only to the US, where carriers exert much stronger leverage against phone OEMs than probably anywhere else in the world, bar Japan and Korea.